Leaving Town

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” -Leo Buscaglia

Libertad is a town of 8,000 people, so clearly not everyone knows me. But since I am one of the few people living in Libertad who is not Afrocolombian, I do stick out a little. When people meet me, the second question they ask me (after “do you have a husband?”) is how long have you been in Libertad?” When I answer four months, they always say, “Wow, you must really like it here!”

The truth is, I do! I love being in Libertad. I love the rhythm of life, the way they speak Spanish, the loud way of communicating, the laughter that is shared, the yucca, the super sugary coffee, the heat, the music, and the sharing and support they give one another. There are definitely challenges and things that are difficult for me, but every day I am learning more and more about myself and about this place.

The work I do here has me traveling a lot and it always is a relief to return to Libertad. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to Cali for a retreat with MCC and then Bogota to reflect and learn with the SEEDers. I was gone for two weeks.

It was great to be with the MCC and SEED community.

And it sucked to be away from Libertad.

It was cold; there was no champeta; there was no yucca; there was no greeting people in the streets; there was no laughter and chatter between motos; there were endless buses, cars, and trucks; there were huge stores and malls; there were mountains instead of the sea. The Spanish was different; the clothing was different; the food was different; the climate was different; the people acted differently.

It was a shock to the system.

And it made me think… so many people have been leaving Libertad because of the lack of economic opportunities – there just aren’t many ways right now to support a family since the shrimp farm shut down and there is not a lot of access to land to farm on. Liberteños pack up and move to Cartagena, Sincelejo, Barranquilla, and Bogota looking for ways to support their families. If it was such a shock for me heading into Bogota after only living in Libertad for four months, how would it feel to be someone who lived in Libertad their whole life?

Even though one of my friends told me that Liberteños are very resilient and can adapt to anything, I have decided that the next time I head to Bogota, I will make a point to visit my friends from Libertad who are now living in the city and bring mangos, tamarind, plums, and coconuts in order to give them a little bit of the coast in the big, cold city. We’ll listen to champeta, drink chicha Caribbean style (a rice drink with cola flavoring), and we’ll talk about all the news from Libertad.

And for now, I will be grateful for the time I have in this community, discovering ways to bring a little of it back with me when it is time for me to return home.